Kozhikode: A three-day residential archives clinic and local history workshop found rare manuscripts dug out from Karikkad Subrahmanya Swami Temple and its surroundings in Manjeri throwing light on colonial Kerala.
The researchers also found that even during the British rule, there were school textbooks in India portraying Tipu Sultan as a champion of secularism.
The workshop was jointly organised by the state archives department and the history department of the Calicut University.
One of the significant findings was the existence of a Namboodiri School for propagating modern ideas among the community and for social reformation.
The manuscripts and notices gathered from the temple and houses of temple trustees revealed that a Namboodiri Yuvajana Sangham existed during the final years British Raj, which propagated many modern ideas and thoughts in the community including women.
One of the notices dated May 20, 1946, shows EMS Namboodiripad inaugurating their annual meeting in the social reformer V. T. Bhattathiripad’s presence.
The documents from Manjeri Government Model HSS show a chapter on the Mysore ruler in a 1937 textbook. Researchers collected over 500 rare books, letters and documents dated back to 1882 from the school library.
Dr P. Sivadasan, head of the department history, Calicut University, said the research on local history would have a huge influence on global history.
“Karikkad was one of the villages in Kerala where Brahmins settled centuries back. The documents with the temple throw light on political history including the Mysore invasion, colonial period, the changes in society and the people over the centuries,” he told DC.
“These documents possess immense research importance and need to be preserved and studied.”
“We are planning to publish the findings as a book. We have also given training to people who have documents in their possession to preserve them scientifically,” he added.
